


Soulmates

by storiebook



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bisexual Archie Andrews, Demisexual Jughead Jones, F/F, Fluff, Jarchie - Freeform, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 15:49:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10030112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiebook/pseuds/storiebook
Summary: The one where your soulmates name shows up on your wrist.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this in like two hours and it's super cliche but oh well i'm posting it anyway  
> Hope you enjoy

He didn’t know how long it had been there. Had it been a few hours or a few days? Had anyone else noticed yet failed to mention anything to him. He didn’t know, which only made him even more terrified.

  
He was too young. Names didn’t usually show up until you were in your late teenage years. Jughead was only twelve, how could the universe be so certain of who his soul mate was? The name wasn’t a surprise, though, Jughead had known for about a year now that he was in love with Archie. But, of all the people it could’ve been, why did it have to be the one person he knew wouldn’t return his feelings. Just because a name showed up on your wrist doesn’t necessarily mean that you rename will show up on theirs, or that you’ll spend the rest of your life with that person. No matter how much you want to.

  
He wore long sleeves to school that day, stopping off afterwards to buy makeup at the convenience store. He couldn’t let Archie know that his name had shown up on his wrist, that would’ve been the end of their friendship and he knew it. So he decided to hide it for as long as humanly possible.

  
July 4th, 2017 had been the worst day of his life. It’s not like he didn’t see it coming, though. Archie had been acting weird all summer, he just didn’t want to acknowledge what that could mean. But there he was, waiting for Archie to go on their big road trip. And Archie never showed.

  
He stopped covering up his name after that day, it wasn’t as if Archie was ever going to see it. He started thinking that maybe it had been pointless to cover it in the first place, seeing as how clueless Archie was anyway. So, he bore the mark with pride. Not like it mattered, he wore long sleeves half the time anyway. The only person who seemed to notice was Pop, who cast him a sympathetic glance when he rolled up his sleeves one night due to the heat.

  
But, as the next school-year approached, Jughead was conflicted. He had thought about leaving Riverdale but quickly decided against. As much as he hated it here… well, he didn’t hate it at all. Now, he had a decision to make: would he continue to pridefully wear his mark in school, risking Archie noticing it? Or, would he go back to covering it every morning?

  
He didn’t make his decision until the morning of the first day, ten minutes before he had to be in class. He grabbed the bottle of concealer and frantically covered the words on his wrist, the words “Archibald Andrews” slowing fading into his skin. As much as he didn’t want to care about what Archie thought anymore, he still loved him and he did still care. He decided to compromise with himself though, he would only cover the words during school hours and wash it once he got to pops (which is ultimately where he knew he’d end up everyday after school).

  
Slowly but surely, Jughead and Archie grew back together. It wasn’t quite like it had been before, but Jughead would take what he could get. After finding out about Ms. Grundy, Jughead vowed to never let Archie leave his sight. He didn’t care if Archie dated other people, he just wanted to make sure it was the right people.

  
So Jughead continued to hide his feelings and his mark, but it became quite hard to do so after a while.

  
Veronica and Betty’s marks showed up within a day of each other. Both bearing the others name proudly on their wrists. Kevin had received his two years earlier, leaving Archie and Jughead the only ones in the group without one, or so they thought.

  
Sometimes, they would tease Jughead about who would show up on his wrist. None of them seemed to be able to picture Jughead in a relationship with anyone, so they’d throw out random names like Cheryl or Reggie, people who had no place showing up on his wrist. They would do similar things with Archie, throwing out equally outrageous names. “Who do you think yours will be, Arch?” Veronica was saying one day. “Maybe you’ll have to compete with Jughead for Cheryl.”

  
“Or it could be me,” Kevin teased, grinning. Archie rolled his eyes and smiled jokingly at the group. “I always knew you weren’t straight.”

  
“Maybe it’s Jughead.” Betty said, making Jughead’s head snap up. “You’re the only two in the group without a mark, you could end up like me and Veronica.” She winked over at them both, Jughead’s expression resembling a deer caught in headlights.

  
Archie composed himself and laughed. “Why not, Jug. We’d be perfect for each other.”

  
He knew Archie wasn’t being serious but he still hoped that his name would someday appear on his best friends wrist.

  
Things between him and Archie seemed to be changing, but Jughead couldn’t quite pinpoint how. He would notice sometimes, prolonged glances in his directions and soft smiles while Jughead spoke but Archie wasn’t really paying attention. He thought he was just being hopeful, seeing things that weren’t really there. But it wasn’t the first time he had noticed them. Before the summer there had been similar instances, but a lot less often and they would always end with Archie’s expression turning to a frown and a quick shake of his head.  
But Jughead hoped, he always did.

  
But soon, Jughead was being invited to all the different school parties. And parties meant party games. Which meant truth or dare. And at one of these many parties, Kevin asked Archie and Archie picked truth.

  
Kevin had been ecstatic.

  
“See! See!” He exclaimed. “I knew he wasn’t straight!” He then proceeded to go around the entire house and inform the entire party that Archie was, in fact, bisexual.

  
“When did this happen?” Jughead asked, trying to sound nonchalant but afraid he was failing miserably. Veronica seemed to think he was failing, at least, judging by her knowing gaze in his direction.

  
“Over summer,” Archie answered. There was more to that answer, but that was all Jug needed. He had a hunch then, and he sincerely hoped his hunch was right. He thought that maybe the reason they drifted apart was because Archie was afraid. Maybe he was afraid of his sexuality and he was falling for Jughead. Or maybe not. Maybe this was just another one of Jughead’s many fantasies.

  
“What about you, Jug?” Veronica asked, bringing Jughead out of his musings.

  
“What about me, what?”

  
“You’ve never seemed to show any interest in girls before, are you into guys? Or both?” Betty elaborated for her, Veronica’s arm draped over her shoulders.

  
Jughead hesitated. He had never really thought about it before. The only person he’s ever really been interested in was Archie. He realized a little too late that after Betty finished her question his eyes had strayed to where Archie was sitting and stuck there. Archie found his gaze and smiled subtly, sensing Jugheads hesitation to answer the question, silently reassuring him that it was okay.

  
“Uh, I hadn’t really thought about it.” Jughead responded, deciding not to lie to them. It wasn’t the full truth, but it was the truth.

  
Everyone seemed to be satisfied with that answer and quickly moved on to speaking about something else.

  
Jugheads gaze found Archie’s again and Archie rose from his place on the couch to reposition himself on the floor next to him. He didn’t say anything to Jughead, just sat and listened to the conversation going on in front of them. Jug’s gaze lingered on Archie for a while, admiring the curve of his chin, the softness of his lips, and the closeness of him. He hadn’t a clue why Archie moved next to him but that was a question for another day.

  
The answer to that, and many other questions came late one night when Jug sat writing on a park bench around three in the morning.

  
He felt his phone buzz lightly and wondered who the hell would be trying to contact him at such a time. He pulled it out and Archie’s name lit up the screen, matching the dark, uncovered lines on his wrist.

  
He answered quickly giving a quick, “Hey, what’s up?” and sticking the phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could continue typing with both hands.

  
His typing stopped abruptly when Archie’s voice came over the line.

  
“I need you to come over right now.” His tone was urgent, but not panicked. He sounded anxious, but not quite afraid. Despite this, it still worried Jughead.

  
“I’m coming.” He said, shoving his laptop into his bed and standing from the park bench. Archie’s house was only a few streets over, he’d be there in no time.

  
He didn’t expect what came next. No matter how many dreams and day dreams and fantasies and musings and whatever other things he could muster up about him and Archie. He never expected Archie to come barreling out his front door at three in the morning and slam right into him, connecting their lips like he had never kissed anyone in his life and if he didn’t do it right now he would die.

  
Jughead dropped his bag the moment Archie’s body hit his. His hands came up to cup Archie’s cheeks and he smiled into the kiss, never wanting it to end. But Archie soon broke the connection, still holding him close.

  
“What the hell, Andrews?” Jug asked, his hands falling from Archie’s face back to his sides.

  
Archie held out his wrist, showing Jughead the brand new mark that looked out of place on his perfect skin. The jagged letters read “Jughead Jones III” in dark letters. Jughead couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips.

  
He reached up and held onto Archie’s wrist, knowingly baring his own mark in Archie’s direction.

  
Archie’s jaw dropped and he grabbed Jughead’s wrist and pulled it towards him. He looked up into Jughead’s eyes, awe written in his features. “When?”

  
“I was twelve.”

  
“Why didn’t you…”

  
“I didn’t think you’d feel the same.”

  
“Jug, I—“

  
“I love you, Archie.”

  
Archie took his face in his hands and reconnected their lips. The kiss was softer this time, slower. Jughead didn’t need Archie to say it back, the kiss said it all. The kiss was his promise of always.


End file.
